


Through Flame and Fortune

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-20
Updated: 2013-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-26 06:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/647442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izera is what Zeus would call an abomination: the result of broken oaths and empty words. He'll stop at nothing to kill her. But Nico di Angelo won't stand for that and he'll fight for Izera.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It started out the same as always. A new school wouldn't make a difference, like I'd told my dad, but he didn't seem to be listening. I quietly went to my locker and struggled with my combination until I got so frustrated that I just sighed and banged my head on my locker. I hated lockers like this. Why couldn't they just be like my last school and have coat hooks in the classroom?

"Need some help?"

I looked up, only to have my breath literally taken away. Standing next to me with a wicked smile modeling the school uniform with absolute sexiness was the typical "Bad Boy" that Mommy would never let her daughter date. He had bone white skin, pale as could be. His hair was raven black. In fact, it was such a dark shade of black that when the fluorescent lights hit it, it seemed to be changing between blue and purple as well. He had dark, intimidating eyes that sparkled either with hotness or madness. He had a lip piercing and when he smiled, I saw a tongue stud as well. And if my eyes didn't mistake me, I also saw at least 3 earrings in one ear, two in the lobe and once in the cartilage. His eyes were outlined in black eyeliner, like he was emo, but somehow he didn't seem like a little stupid emo kid to me. In fact, the eyeliner only accentuated his eyes, actually giving him innocent 'doe-like' eyes. He was completely decked in black from head to toe, his clothing baggy. I think his belt was a  _chain_ , I'm not for sure.

Wordlessly, I nodded. He took my slip of paper with my combination written on it and skillfully opened my locker for me. With an extravagant bow, he handed the paper back to me. He smiled one last time and then opened his own locker, bending down to get his things. He slammed his locker shut and although I wanted to know his name, he walked away before I could force a sound out. I woefully put away my backpack and got out my binder full of loose-leaf paper and grabbed my pencil case. I closed my own locker and spent the rest of the morning tracking down all of my classrooms so that I wouldn't get lost. When the five minute bell rang, I went to my first hour: Spanish. That ought to be fun.

The teacher gave me a seat in the third row, fourth seat back. I took the seat and sat in my desk like the lady I'd been taught to be. The girl next to me snapped her gum obnoxiously and leaned over, loudly whispering "Hi, I'm Brittney."

"Miss Downs, I'd hate to interrupt your little social gathering, but we must start class." the Spanish teacher said sternly.

"Sorry,  _hombre_."she giggled and everyone around her, myself included, couldn't help but laugh at her. The teacher gave her a dirty look and corrected her with " _Señior_  Nodarse."

I laughed a bit more and was the proud receiver of my very own dirty look from " _Señior_  Nodarse" and I stifled my laughs. Glancing at Brittney, I saw that she was smiling at me and also looking at me from the corner of her eyes. I shyly waved hello to her.

"Come on!" Brittney laughed. "You can sit with me!" I giggled and followed my new friend to her table. She sat down in the middle of a very crowded table. "Hey guys, 'sup? This is Izera, she's totally cool!"

"Hi!" they all said cheerfully.

"Hey,"I replied. Maybe this school would be different. Maybe I was wrong; I could change. I wouldn't have to leave this school because of an explosion that I hadn't caused but was being blamed for.

"So where are you transferring from?" asked a boy on my right. He was cute with a mop of long curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had mega-watt teeth and his uniform looked perfect, not even wrinkled like so many of the students were by lunch.

"I was home schooled for the past year." I replied shyly. "But before that I went to Yancy Academy."

He whistled. "Why'd you pick home school instead of Yancy?"

Now came the awkward part. "Because, I kind of, um..."

"Yeah?" he teased.

"Got expelled?" I mumbled.

He looked shell-shocked. "You got expelled. What on Earth for?"

"Just a few accidents on field trips, a few explosions, stuff like that." I replied. And that had been one of my better school years, unfortunately. "None of them were my fault, of course, but I was blamed for them."

"Uh-huh." he said, trying to be sympathetic, I guess. I could tell he wanted to turn to Brittney and ask "Just what kind of nut job did you befriend?" and I guess I didn't really blame him. If one of my 'friends' brought someone to my 'table' and they told me they'd been expelled for blowing up a school, I'd be worried about said-'friends' mental stability.

Brittney was just beaming at me. "Toldja she was cool! She was in an  _explosion_."

The way she said 'explosion,' she made me sound ridiculously cool and daring and suddenly all of her friends were gazing at me in admiration as if I'd told them I'd run into a burning building to save a kitten or something. Not at all how it'd actually went. In reality, it had just been a couple of chem lab accidents, but the principal and my dad agreed that 5 explosions in one semester was just one too many.

"So, how many schools have you been to?" the boy asked.

"Hunter!" Brittney exclaimed. "You're bombarding her! Give her some breathing room and let her eat her lunch first. Jeesh, you meddlesome twat!" She said 'meddlesome twat' in a loving way and she smiled at him, as if letting him know that was her endearing nickname for him.

"Naw, that's alright." I said, smiling at Hunter. "I didn't bring a lunch because I'm not hungry and I'm used to it. So, let's see...I'm in 12th grade, so...12 schools total." I finished my mental math. "Wait, no. Eleven and a half because I didn't get to finish my year at my prep school a few years ago." I smiled at Hunter. "Answer your question?"

Now he  _really_  looked shell-shocked. "Twelve schools?"

"Yep." I said tiredly. "Something always happens to get me expelled. An accidental chem lab explosion, accidentally breaking the head off of a Virgin Mary,"-at this, he looked positively scandalized- "or accidentally getting lost on field trips. In this one school I went to, I accidentally destroyed an entire wing of lockers which was chalked up to a gas leak, but I was still kicked out." I shrugged. "Something always happens. I'm hoping that since this is my last year in school, nothing will happen."

Brittney rubbed my shoulder softly, as if trying to soothe me from the past memories. "Aww, sweetie that must have sucked. But it's alright, you're at Goode now. We'll help you."

I snorted, but nevertheless thanked her for her words. Even if I knew that they would eventually prove to be false, I still wanted to hope. Just then, the boy from the lockers walked by and I couldn't help but ask Brittney in a hushed exclamation "Who is  _that?_ "

She followed my look. "Oh. That's Nico di Angelo. He's fairly antisocial. Most people avoid him. I would do the same if I were you. From what I hear, he's quite the troublemaker. He's been kicked out of more schools than even you have and the only reason he got in here is because his foster-father pulled some strings and got him in here because he's a teacher."

"Foster-father?" I asked.

"Yeah. His uncle. Di Angleo's an foster kid. His mother's supposedly dead and his dad apparently doesn't give a rat's ass about him, so he was dumped in the system and adopted by his cousin's family. He was related to a kid who went through here two or three years ago." Hunter said, watching Nico with obvious distaste.

"Four years ago." a girl corrected him. "Percy Jackson."

" _Whatever_." he snapped. "Anyways, they're both cousins and both really bad news. I'd feel a lot better if you stayed away from him for the time being, okay Izera?"

I met his earnest eyes. "Okay Hunter, I'll stay away from him for now."

Relief flooded his eyes. "Thanks. Alright. Hey, I'm starved, who else is hungry? I'm going up to the line. Who's coming with? Izera?"

I looked down in front of me to see Hunter offering me his hand. I blinked and then slowly took it, drawing my thoughts away from the supposedly 'very evil' Nico di Angelo. "Sure Hunter. Now that I think about it, I actually am very hungry."


	2. Chapter 2

I said goodbye to all of my new friends, going to English. I walked into the class room to be greeted by a friendly teacher in dress clothes and a tie. He introduced himself as Mr. Blofis and I nodded, trying not to giggle. _Did he just say he was Mr. Blowfish?_ I took the indicated seat and was given a textbook. I was getting ready for today's lesson when the kid I'd been warned about, Nico, stormed in, looking moodier than I'd ever seen any one person. He slid into the seat directly next to mine just as the bell rang. Mr. Blofis shot him a look that said he was pushing it, but let it go. Nico was empty handed, not having so much as a scrap of paper or a pencil with him, which was bad because we'd just been assigned an outline on Unit Two of our textbook, the English Renaissance. Mr. Blofis seemed to know that Nico never came prepared and dismissed us, saying we could work in pairs so long as we were quiet. Of course that part of the directions was immediately disregarded. We were teenagers; if you put us in even so much as pairs, we're bound to gossip and talk and overall, wreak havoc. It seems that the only two who didn't seem interested in getting a partner were Nico and I.

"Nico, would you please mind showing Izera how we outline in here?" Mr. Blofis called over to Nico. Nico's mood lightened immediately and he replied with "Sure thing, Paul." He grabbed the corner of my desk and dragged it roughly over to his so that the corners were touching before grabbing the back half of my desk and likewise pulling that over so that we were side by side in our desks.

He was incredibly warm. Bad news or not, I just wanted to wrap myself in him and lie down. I didn't realize I was unconsciously leaning towards him until our arms touched and I caught a whiff of him. Jesus, he smelled good too. Like...a mix of Axe and something else that was cloyingly sweet, but sweet nonetheless. He smelled like a piece of candy for god's sake!

"Kay, in here, Paul has a specific way of doing things. The other way teachers outline is just basically pulling useless crap out of the text and shuffling it into a outline skeleton. The way he does it, Paul actually makes you read the section. So here is how you do it." Nico began and I realized that his voice was incredibly warm, like a molten liquid. Remind me again, why was I supposed to stay away from him again? Oh, yeah, he was supposedly a bad kid. Well, technically, I was too but that didn't mean anything.

I realized I'd zoned out and he was in the middle of describing the way complex way that I had to outline this section. So, embarrassed, I tried to look like I'd been listening. I didn't fool him not one bit.

"I've already lost you, huh?" he asked, only he sounded teasing. "Here, let me put it in layman's terms for you." He began to explain it again and this time it was much simpler and much more easy to understand. Once he'd explained it to the point where I decently understood it enough to do it on my own, he stopped talking and let me work. After a moment of awkward silence, I asked "Aren't you going to work on yours too?"

"Mine's already done." he replied, leaning back and cracking his back.  _Jesus Almighty, he had a six pack._  "I did it last night because I knew I was going to get hammered with Calc homework tonight."

"Calc...?" I asked.

"I'm in AP classes. I'm taking AP Calculus." he replied. "Since 'Mr. Blofis' is my adoptive-dad, I just checked what today's assignments were and did them ahead of time. He won't mind so long as they get turned in."

"You need to stop stealing my lesson plans." Mr. Blofis commented dryly from across the room. Nico just snorted, as if it were unlikely that were going to happen anytime in the near future.

He was in  _AP Calculus_? What kind of 'bad news' could a math whiz kid be? Not to mention he'd said 'AP classes,' not just 'AP math,' which meant most of his classes were AP. Was this the only normal hour he had? Most kids in my grade were usually taking classes like Business Math and Personal Finance to avoid classes like Pre-Calc and FST or Calculus itself. Yet he was in AP Calculus, as in a college class.

"What?" he'd just noticed me staring at him.

"You're in AP Calculus?" I asked slowly.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, as if it were completely normal for and 18 year old kid to want to take AP Calc.

"...Can you help me with my Algebra?" I asked.

He laughed. "Normally I'd say no, but something tells me I should say yes. Can you stay after school?"

"On Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's." I replied.

"Will that work for you if you need a tutor?" he teased. I blushed darkly.

"I only suck at Algebra 2." I replied, a bit surly. "Not all of us can be genius'."

"Oh, I'm not a genius." he said seriously. "You should see my cousin's girlfriend, Annabeth. I swear she'd do AP Calc just for fun. And she's already taken it."

"For fun?" I echoed. "Why on earth would she do that?"

"She's going to an Ivy League right now, studying to be an architect." He replied. "At Harvard, I think?"

"You have a cousin who goes to Harvard?" I asked.

"No, my cousin's girlfriend. Well, actually his fiancee now, but that's not the point. My cousin himself is going to a completely different college to major in Marine Biology, Equine Studies, Business Technology, and Ancient Greek. I think he's minoring in art or something." he replied.

"Is this the infamous Percy Jackson I've heard about?" I asked. "He's attempting at  _quadruple_  major?"

His face slackened. "Ah, so you've heard the stories about Percy and me huh?"

"Not really stories," I fidgeted, uncomfortable. "Just...warnings, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know." he said bitterly. "My 'foster-brother' and I have been talked about since he graduated and I got into high school. In fact, it's a miracle in itself that I'm still here. And let me guess, the warnings were to stay away from me, right?"

His eyes penetrated me and I awkwardly nodded. "They wouldn't tell me why, just to stay away from you because you'd be trouble to me."

"And what do you believe?" his minty breath washed over me.

"I want to make my friends happy and take their advice," I admitted, "but I also prefer to make my own opinions about people, therefore you and I may be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

He smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Is that a fact?"

"No, no, it's not, but I thought you might want to know." I replied. "God forbid that you feel like I'm stalking you."

His smiled got even bigger. "We can't have that, now can we?"

"Never." I replied."Hey Nico, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but go ahead."

I rolled my eyes irritably at him. "You know what I meant. I was just wondering why everyone says you're such bad news if you're being so nice?"

"Well maybe I am bad news, but I'm cleaning up my act for the new girl." he said mischievously. "You never know."

"I highly doubt that." I told him. "In my experience, the 'bad kids' don't stop acting like how they do on a daily basis just to say hi to a new student. In fact, they go out of their way to be rude. And I highly doubt you helping me open my locker can be considered rude."

He sat back, impressed. "You know what, you're right. I'm not a bad kid. Teenagers just live by the 'harshly judge a book by it's somewhat rough cover' philosophy here. Those stories are mostly exaggerated myths about accidents that have happened to me."

"Such as?" I prompted.

"Well, the latest story going around is that I pulled a knife on Paul." he said, nodding towards our teacher, who was completely absorbed in something on his computer screen.

"Did you?" I asked, appalled. Would he really pull a knife on his dad?

He snorted in disgust. "No and Paul knows I never would. I only carry a switchblade for protection because kids around here can get ridiculously rough, no matter how good they say they are. But that's just it. A knife falls out of my sleeve and suddenly everyone assumes that I want to stab someone. Never mind that we live in  _freaking_  New York, home to gangs that can make a mob boss pee the bed. Oh, wait, we've got mob bosses too. Forgot about that."

"So you're pretty much just misunderstood is what you're saying?"I clarified.

"See, I like you already. You're much more brighter than these other idiots." he replied. The bell rang, interrupting our conversation. The students began to stand, putting the room back together and getting ready to leave for 5th hour. I looked down at my paper. I didn't have so much as a single word written down. Nico smiled.

"Today's Thursday. See you after school?" he asked. His breath tickled my ear as he whispered in my ear. Dazed, I nodded as he left.


	3. Chapter 3

I was sitting in the library, waiting for Nico. I'd gotten my outline done in Study Hall, so I don't know why I just hadn't told Nico that we could go home. I guess, if I told the truth to myself, I just wanted to see him again. Yep, that was the sorry truth. I know some of you might say "Don't believe the lying bastard," but for some reason I held onto that he was telling the truth. I waited impatiently in the library cafe for him to come. He walked in later, not even maybe 5 minutes later. He had a cocky stride I hadn't noticed and when he noticed me, he smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied, trying not to sound all breathy and crap like he was giving me vertigo (which he was, actually). "How are you?"

"No different than when you saw me in fourth hour." he teased. "Why so anxious? It's not like the kids here are going to tear me up directly after school. They don't have the balls to do that."

"Not from what I've seen." I contradicted. "They all have nothing but bad things to say about you and they all seem to want to rip you apart limb by limb."

"Hence why they don't have the balls to do it. If they thought they could take me, I'd be lying in a gutter somewhere, bleeding out." he replied. "So, whatcha need help with?"

"Um," I said sheepishly, "I don't have any homework. I finished it last hour because I have Study Hall."

He arched an eyebrow. "So...what? You just wanted to see me?"

"I don't know." I snapped at him. "I didn't see you for the rest of the day and it just seemed rude to drag you all the way down here just to say 'Hey, don't need your help anymore but thanks for staying late for me.'"

"Well, at least you have manners." he observed.

"Yes, at least, though yours seem to be declining quickly." I spat back. It was uncommon for me to be so suddenly rude and I blushed, "Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

"It's alright. I was being rude and intrusive, forgive me." he said. "Since you don't have any work to do, wanna go for a walk? There's a restaurant not far from here where a lot of the students go after school to get something to eat and trade all the latest gossip. Wanna go?"

"Sure." I replied. "My dad's working late today. He won't know that I'm gone."

"Is that why you can stay after?" he asked. "What about your mom?"

"Never knew her." I told him. "My dad told me that she wanted him to have me. They weren't married when she had me and it would have caused holy hell apparently if she returned to her family with me. I guess he always just assumed she was the daughter of some rich man who would have disowned her for loving him and having me."

"Pretty much the same here." He said. "Although it's a little stranger. I knew my mom up until I was ten apparently, but then an explosion blew her up and killed her. My sister and I were lucky enough to survive. My dad put us in boarding school after boarding school and we kept moving around. Eventually I landed here."

"You have a sister?" I asked, surprised. "What's her name?"

"Her name  _was_  Bianca." he said shortly and I recognized the tone in his voice.  _Loss_. Whoever his sister had been, she wasn't here anymore.

"Oh...sorry." I murmured.

"It's alright, it's not your fault. You didn't know." he said and then quickly changed the subject. "So if you suck at Algebra, what are you good at?"

I wrinkled my nose. "If anything, Spanish. Most of my skills lie outside the academic field. I'm good at things like resolving a fight or calming people down. If we had a class on that, I'd ace it. But alas, we have things like Public Speaking and such."

He laughed. "You should meet the rest of my family. We fight all the time."

"You mean your aunt and your uncle and you?"

"We're technically not even related by blood, but no. I mean my like, 200 cousins or something."

"You're joking, right?" He just looked at me. "Christ, how big is your family?"

He glanced at the sky, as if he were afraid I was going to get hit by lightning. "You shouldn't say things like that. It's blasphemous."

"Don't tell me you're bizarrely religious?" I asked.

"Nah, not like that." he said.

"You didn't answer my question." I pointed out. "Just how big is your family, really?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't joking. I get together with them every summer and we all go to a camp together. There's fairly close to 200 of us, extended family in all. It takes about 46 cabins to house us all and there's 30 bunks in each cabin."

I did some mental math. "I know I'm not good at math, but that's not two hundred, that's 1,380 kids Nico."

"Not all of the cabins are full, stupid." he laughed. "Like, for instance, I'm the only one in my cabin, though it's made to house roughly 30 kids or more. Same for most of my cousins. The usual for a cabin is round about maybe 20."

"Wait...Then why aren't all of the cabins full? Can't you move kids around so that less cabins are in use?"

"No, it depends on who your parents are. Certain family members go to certain cabins." he replied.

"So you're the only kid in your family?"

"From my branch of the family, yeah. It's complicated." he said.

"What's your dad's name?" I asked curiously.

"You'll laugh." he said and he actually sounded quite depressed about it. "Most kids do at one point or another when they learn it. They'll hear the stories of how badass I am and then hear what I say my dad's name is and they all assume I'm lying."

"Come on! I won't laugh, I promise." I pleaded, pawing at his jacket on his arm. "What is it?"

He looked at me seriously. "My dad's name is Hades."

I did a double take, pausing. "Wait, you're serious? Your dad's name is Hades? Like the Greek god in the myths?"

"Yeah, like the myths." he said bitterly. "Just like that."

"You don't seem very glad about that."

"I'm not." he said. "It's a pain in the ass in more ways than one."

"Oh come on! I think it's cool! Having your dad have a name like Hades is totally BAMF." I said, laughing, though I'd promised not to. "My dad's name is David. How lame is that? Hades would be an awesome name to have!"

He laughed. "Yeah, David is a pretty lame name. But oh well. Well, here we are. Wanna go in?"

"Yeah, sure." I said. "But first, I want your jacket. It's freezing out here and if you're a good kid like you keep telling me, you'll give it up."

"I'm not giving it to you because I'm a 'good kid,' I'm giving it to you because I'm a gentlemen." Nico contradicted, swinging jacket off and handing it to me and holding open the door. I laughed, going in.

"Yeah, right." I chuckled.

"What? Don't believe me?" he asked. Funnily enough, Nico seemed offended.

"No, I do. I just don't think that Britt will think that." I giggled.

"You're going to tell her about this?" he teased.

"I don't have to." I breathed, restraining myself. "She's sitting at a table with Hunter, Sophie, and Brandon." He went to look but I hissed over my laughter " _Don't_  stare." He stared at me for a moment before pushing me into a booth. He wrapped an arm around me and pretended to stretch, glancing over his shoulder.

"That's slick." I said.

"Uh-huh." he agreed and then burst out laughing. "Oh my gods, if you could see their faces!" We both snickered uncontrollably until a waitress appeared at our elbows.

"What can I get you today?" she asked pleasantly.

"Um, I'll have coffee...black...and what ever she wants." Nico said, producing a 10 dollar bill. "Keep the change."

"Um...apple juice, if you have it." I said.

She nodded, taking the money and leaving. A few minutes later, Nico was sipping his coffee and I had practically chugged half of my juice.

"So, why'd you drag me down here?" I asked finally.

Nico burped, excused himself, and then said "I don't know. You wanted to see me against Miss Downs wishes. You tell me."

"I told you that I like to make my own opinions of people." I reminded him.

"Yeah, well, it looks like our pleasantries are about to come to a screaming halt." he muttered. "Here comes your new BFF, complete with the posse." I looked up and saw Brittney walking hotly over to us, Hunter, Sophie, Brandon, and a few others who'd joined them, all behind her.

"Crap." I muttered. So much for having friends who actually liked me.

"Izera, can I talk to you for a moment?" Brittney asked, struggling to keep a polite tone in the presence of Nico.

"Sure," I said, feigning ignorance. "Nico, could you let me out real quick?"

"Of course." he replied. He stood up, giving me room to get out before sitting back down and sipping his coffee in an unconcerned manner like he wasn't at all fazed by suddenly being surrounded by 10+ people who oh-so-obviously didn't like him.

I walked a few feet away with Brittney. "Hey, what's up?"

"I thought we told you to stay away from him. He's bad news Izera! He pulled a knife on his dad, who is also a teacher! He's made death threats against several students and he's just a freak in general. Why are you sitting with him or even just socializing with him? It isn't good for your image here!" she demanded hotly.

"Calm down Britt," I said soothingly. "He was just helping me with some homework and we were thirsty. Since the cafe in the library was closed, we decided to come here and grab some chow. I'm fine."

"Oh really? What subject is he helping you in?" she asked.

"Algebra and English. He's in AP Calc and his dad is the English teacher. I figured it couldn't really hurt to have him helping me in either subject." I replied. "Look, we were just going to finish our drinks and go back to the school. If you want to come with to make sure he doesn't pull anything, be my guest."

She made a face. "I wouldn't be caught dead with Di Angelo. And from now on,  _neither will you._ It's bad publicity hun. Finish studying with him, but after that, don't ask him to tutor you. We can find other people in AP classes for you, okay?"

Since I hated confrontation, I docilely agreed. "Okay Britt. Today's it, I promise."

Relief smoothed her brow. "Good. See you tomorrow bright and early Spanish?" She leaned over and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"Bright and early." I agreed. I accepted her kiss on the cheek and smiled at them as they left. When they were gone, I sighed and slid back into the booth and Nico was silent for a moment. Finally he said "You really don't know how to stand up to them, do you?"

"What?" I asked.

"You know, for a moment, I thought you might be different than the rest." he snapped, getting up and leaving the restaurant.


	4. Chapter 4

So Nico just sort of left without taking his jacket. I'm not gonna lie, I felt a little weird when he left, leaving me there with like 20+ people staring at me wondering what I'd said to piss him off so bad. I just decided to leave, since I didn't have anything else to do. I walked home, since I lived close. I unlocked my apartment door and had never been more thankful that we lived on the first floor. I swung open the door and flicked on the lights, slinging my things down tiredly. It had been a long day and Nico's little fit had suddenly tired me out more than usual. Sighing, I closed the door behind me and locked it, collapsing on the couch. I was actually quite exhausted.

Soon enough I fell asleep. And then I began to dream...

My dream way a little weirder than usual. Like, my dad always teased me because the weirdest dream he's ever had was riding a bike with square wheels and I usually got the nightmares that had me screaming in my sleep. In this one, I was on a mountain, in front of a huge palace. There were braziers lit everywhere and it seemed like it should have been a really cool place, full of fun and excitement. But looking around, I saw that the mountain was empty and I felt a twinge of sadness. There should've been people running around and having fun. The mountain shook and I was startled. Looking up, I saw flashes of light coming from the top of the mountain in a huge pavilion. Curious, I started up there. The scenery changed and I was suddenly standing in a field of green, next to a hearth. No one was tending the fire and the coals were dying. I picked up the poker stick and gently turned the flames, turning them until the flames were coaxed back to life. I was sitting there contentedly until I heard "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" be shouted. I looked up, startled.

There was a small girl there, who was apparently arguing with someone. The other man was older, taller, more refined. He wore a suit and he was screaming at her. The small girl was taking it in silence. I got up. Seriously? Was peace and quiet that hard to ask for in a dream?

"Guys," I tried, beginning to walk towards them, "This is"-

"It's no use." said a voice next to me. Astonishingly, it was Nico standing there. "They're on a roll now. Let Zeus yell at her for a while and then she'll rebut and the whole thing's over."

"Zeus?" I yelled at him, for the wind had suddenly picked up. "Nico, what are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" he looked shocked, staring at me.

"Know what?" I yelled.

With a jolt I woke up. I was lying on my couch, swathed in blankets and practically swimming in Nico's jacket. I guess my dad had come home and saw me napping. I grimaced. I was going to hear it from him. He disapproved of napping during a school day. Groaning, I sat up and yanked my hair out of it's ponytail, which was pulling my hair and giving me a headache.

"Hey Baby Doll. So you're finally awake?" I heard. I looked around and saw my dad in the kitchen with a plate of food. "Sorry, I made it a fend-for-yourself night while you were napping."

"That's alright." I said. "It's cool. Sorry about falling asleep, I was just wiped after school today."

"So who's jacket is that?" he asked, motioning toward it. "You weren't wearing it when I dropped you off at school."

Of course the first thing my dad would realize that's out of place about me is my  _wardrobe_.

"It's a friends." I said. "They lent it to me today after school and I sort of forgot to give it back. I'll have to give it back tomorrow."

He grunted, then grabbed his work bag and headed upstairs to his study. I usually didn't see very much of him in the hours following his retreat to his study, so I fixed myself a plate of chow and wolfed it down. Wiping my mouth, I thought over my dream. Granted, it was probably just a stupid nightmare, but I couldn't help shake the feeling that when he'd said "You don't know," he'd been talking about something a little more serious than my petty subconscious.

I rolled my eyes. I needed to give my subconscious a pep talk;  _re_ : better dreams, to the max. This was just getting old, especially when I woke up in a cold sweat and panicking in the middle of the night. My dad didn't know what to make of them and no amount of therapy or testing was revealing any sleep disorders. I cracked my back tiredly. Amazingly, I was still tired. Glancing at the clock, I saw that I'd been out for a few hours. Funny. I felt like I could still sleep for an eternity, wake back up, and still be tired.

I wished I'd saved some homework. Now I had nothing to do but surf the internet, watch TV, and sit and ponder about my weird-ass subconscious. Oh well. A good lesson for next time, I guess. I sat down at our computer desk, opening the laptop that served as our computer and pulled open the internet. With close to nothing to do, I opened my email and replied to all of them before checking in at sites such as NaNoWriMo, deviantArt, and youtube. I touched base with all of the sites before logging off and staring at the Google Web screen for sometime. Finally my curiosity won the better of me and I typed in "Zeus-Hearth." What came up astounded me.

So, I'd never really been good in school. I'd hated Freshman English because of the teacher, but that had also coincidentally been the same and only time that we studied Greek Mythology in my entire high school career. So I knew next to nothing of the Greek gods. Apparently Zeus had a sister, named Hestia. She was goddess of Home and Hearth, but she gave up her throne for Dionysus to prevent civil strife amongst the gods. Now she apparently sat and tended the fires of Olympus. Huh.

So what on earth was my subconscious trying to tell me?

The next day at school was fairly ordinary, which I welcomed with a passion. Up until 5th hour, that was. So far, I hadn't blown anything up, which was a first. In the beginning, it was just 'oh, okay, she's accident prone.' Now it's changed to a 'oh my god, she's a terrorist, expel her right now' type of deal. So, for me, going two days without an 'accident' like the rest of them, this was a blessing in disguise of school torture.

I made it through Spanish okay, with Brittney giggling in my ear every two seconds. I hadn't been able to find Nico before school started, so I'd just kept the sweat shirt. Brittney had a bit of a fuss, but she'd get over it. I went through 2nd hour art okay. I did my rough draft and began my project. Third hour was a bit kooky, but I had Home Economy with a 80+ year old teacher. To be expected, I guess. Then I went to lunch and sat with Brittney, like yesterday. I laughed along with all of them and my hopes rose that yesterday had been a tiny speed bump in what could possibly be a new group of friends. But fifth hour... Fifth hour is when it all went to hell in a hand basket, skipping and singing "Skip to My Lou My Darling" the entire way down.

Nico was there. It was the only hour I had with him all day and I took this opportunity to try to give him his sweatshirt back. Instead, he acted like I didn't even exist. He refused to acknowledge the sweatshirt dangling from my fist or even the fact that I was standing there. He just sat there, doodling in the margins of his AP homework. Eventually I gave up and just sat down, sitting in my desk huffily. I passed forward my outline with the rest of the class and noticed that Nico had his as well. I tried to not fidget and stare in Nico's direction the whole hour, but failed. Luckily he didn't notice me or if he did, it wasn't when I was looking at him. We were just about to open up our textbooks when the solid wood door on steel hinges began to shake. There was something snarling on the other side like a wild animal and claw marks appeared through 4 inches of solid pine. The class didn't miss it, for they all flinched whenever the door shook and the snarls sounded out. Mr. Blofis didn't seem at all fazed. He just looked up calmly and said "Would you all please migrate to the back of the room? When the door opens, I would like for you to leave the room as quickly as possible and stay out of Nico's way. Nico, could you please get rid of that?"

Nico looked up. "Sure thing Paul. Let it in."

Mr. Blofis got up and walked towards the door. I saw him hesitate for a moment before he gingerly touched the handle and pushed it down lightly. He sprang back like the door was electrocuted and for a good reason.

A dog maybe the size of a desk was trying to ram its way through the doorway. Only it wasn't a dog. It had bizarrely red eyes and nasty looking teeth and claws. It was growling savagely and the entire door frame shook as it succeeded in getting in. The class shrieked and did exactly as Mr. Blofis directed (probably the one and only time that would happen) and evacuated the room in a blinding flash.

The creature was staring straight at me and its red eyes of fire held me paralyzed. Something made of fire couldn't be  _that_  bad, could it? I immediately answered my own question when it snarled what I was sure was not a compliment at me and lunged for me. I was yanked out of the way and I crashed to the ground on top of Nico. I scrambled away from him, but he kept a firm grip on my wrist, positioning himself between me and the beast.

"Nico, what in god's sake are you doing? Izera needs to get out of here or she'll be ripped to bits." Mr. Blofis said from the doorway.

"I'm using her." Nico said, his eyes never once leaving the monster. "It's after her for some reason, not me. It knows it can take her. She's my bait, give me a sec."

I was bait? What on earth was going on? The creature lunged for me again but this time Nico shook a knife out of his sleeve. I was wondering what a knife would do against a creature like this but then it transformed into a long sword that was pure black. The beast was suddenly more hesitant to try and rip him down to reach me. My hopes for living and making it out of this classroom began to look up, but then the monster decided that I was a worthy sacrifice and jumped.

Nico's blade flashed, slicing through the air and rending the animal in two. Well, it was in two, for like three milliseconds before it exploded into dust midair and coated both me and Nico in the corner we'd backed it into. I coughed and hacked, choking on the dust.

"What on earth was that?" I demanded. I didn't get an answer. Nico and Mr. Blofis were sharing a look and Mr. Blofis shook his keys out of his pocket. "Take the Prius." He tossed the keys to Nico and Nico dragged me from the room, taking me to the teacher parking lot and shoving me in the car.


	5. Chapter 5

"Nico, where on earth are we going?" I demanded as he stomped on the gas pedal. I'd been asking him the same question for almost ten minutes now and I still had no reply.

"Shut up." he snapped, "You're grating on my nerves."

Kay, so I'd gotten that reply. I deigned to remain quiet for the rest of the ride in a silent sulk mostly because I didn't feel like arguing with him. Arguing was tiresome and all in all, got nothing done. He sped out of the city and into the country, seriously making me wonder where in the hell we were going. I still remained quiet, even when he suddenly jerked into a driveway, slowing down dramatically and it almost seemed like he was breathing easier. Like he'd calmed down, or he wasn't as stressed, or something along those lines.

"Nico, please, where are we?" I asked beggingly. He gave in with a sigh.

"Camp Half-Blood. Welcome to my summer home." he replied. "It's a little weird, but it's the closest thing to a safe haven that I have." He got out and it was clear he expected me to follow. I grudgingly got out and followed him up to the huge house that was white. He took me inside and told me to wait there. He then disappeared, leaving the house. With nothing else to do, I sighed and sat down on the couch in the room and curled up into a miserable ball of self-misery.

He came back with a man in a wheelchair. The man looked warm and friendly and safe and I suddenly brightened as I recognized him as someone I could trust. Even Nico, whom I'd never seen display the tiniest sign of love to anyone, even his adoptive father or when he was talking about his family, was looking at him with a warm look on his face, like he adored him.

"Why, hello young lady!" the man said jovially. "What's your name?"

"Izera," I said blushingly. "Izera Connelly."

"Well, Miss Connelly, I can assure you that you are in good hands now. Now, from what Nico has told me, you don't know what's going on in your life that caused you to end up here?"

"No, actually, and he wouldn't explain." I shot him a dirty look.

"Now now. What Nico did actually kept you more safe, even if that's not what it felt like little one. But nevertheless, he should have treated a lady with a bit more respect than he did." The man also gave Nico a look, but his was more reprimanding than dirty, like mine. "My name is Chiron."

"Chiron." I rolled the syllables around on my tongue. "That sounds familiar."

He chuckled. "And where it is from will become apparently obvious very soon my dear. Right now I must ask you to accompany Nico to—Lady Hestia?" Chiron cut off abruptly as a woman walked in the door. She wore a simple brown dress and a kerchief over her hair. She turned to face me and I got the shock of my life.

She had my eyes. The exact same shade of yellow-orange that had helped label me as a freak for almost my entire life. More than that, she had my face. Our hair was the same shade. We were probably within an inch of each other in height. We could have been twins.

"Hestia?" I asked. I remembered my Google search from the night before. "You mean the Goddess of the Hearth?"

"The very same." the woman breathed. "Oh, Izera!" She embraced me and although I was still somewhat frozen in shock, I instinctively wrapped my arms around her. We held each other for a moment before she backed up and held me at arms length. "Oh my dear sweet child! I thought Zeus would get rid of you like he does to all of the other demigods he disapproves of! Oh gods! You're still alive!"

"You mean the man you were arguing with?" I asked. I recognized her now. She'd been in my weird nightmare about those two people arguing about something. "He said that something was your fault."

"You," she said softly, "He said you were my fault. I broke an Oath Izera, and a very serious one at that. Your mere existence proves that."

"Wait, Lady Hestia," Nico interrupted. "Are you saying that she's  _your_  daughter?"

She nodded, beaming at me. "Can't you tell? She has my eyes?"

Well that was certainly true.

"Wait," I said, " _Mom_? Dad said you abandoned us."

"I very well couldn't take you back to Olympus." she replied sadly. "And your father wanted a child so bad. He was such a sweet man. I think of him often my dear. And I can understand if you hate me, but please understand why I had to do it."

I did. Dad had always told me that if Mom had stayed with us or kept me, her life would have been turned upside down. Of course, I always assumed that meant that it would cause scandalous gossip that some rich mans daughter had a bastard child, but now I realized it was a tad bigger than that. My research on the Goddess of the Hearth last night had told me that Hestia had sworn on the River Styx to remain an eternal virgin and never marry so that civil strife could be avoided. And now she had me in direct violation of that oath.

"I don't think I could ever hate my mother." I replied and I felt myself tearing up. She hugged me again and this time it had a real meaning to me.

"Chiron, I think that we can just tell her. She just got claimed by her mom,  _in person_. That's usually more than half of what the demigods here get." Nico said. "There's no need to show her the film or try to convince her about her parentage with her mom sitting right next to her."

"You are right child. Just tell her." Hestia murmured, petting my hair and it didn't feel creepy like it did if someone else did it. When she did it, it felt like she was doing it to soothe both me and her.

"Fine," Chiron sounded tired. "Well, Izera, have a seat. I think you might want to sit down for this..."

"So...wait...you're saying that I'm part god?" I said in disbelieve. Hestia, sitting next to me, nodded. "You're a goddess?"

"Remember when I told you my dad's name was Hades?" Nico asked. "Yeah, well, my dad is literally  _Hades_. And I don't just mean like he's named after the god, I mean my father is Lord of the Dead, I have a bedroom in the Underworld."

"I'm a demigod?" I asked again. "Jeesh my head is starting to hurt."

"She's taking it better than most." Chiron observed. "Most scream and cry and accuse us of lying, if not thinking they're going insane."

"Yes, well, as Nico pointed out, my mother is sitting right here next to me." I said, raising my head to look at him. "And my mom has demonstrated her godly powers during this conversation not once, not twice, but  _three_  times."

"She has a point," Nico said.

"I suppose we should get to work on your cabin as soon as possible." Chiron said, speaking to my mother. "We can have a cabin for your daughter erected before nightfall."

"Don't bother." I said automatically, "Home is where the Heart is and therefore I can make a home anywhere."

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Hestia said proudly.

"I'd like to see you turn my cabin into a home." Nico snorted. "That place is barren and avoided, like it's a wasteland or a godforsaken place."

I looked him in the eye, standing and raising my chin. "Challenge accepted."

He paused. "Wait...what?"

"You heard me. Challenge accepted. You think I can't turn your cabin into a home? Well, we'll just see about that, now won't we?"

"I for one would love to actually see how this comes out." said a voice from the door. Nico flinched and stared and the sealing, mouthing what I was sure were prayers to the gods.

"Nico, this is no way to greet your father." Hestia scolded him, glaring at him. "He's family, no matter what you say, do, or want. Nothing will change that."

"I know that. Believe me, I know that." Nico sighed.

"Then shape up and turn around." I snapped. "At least say hello."

Nico turned around, facing the man who'd just appeared in the doorway. He wore a toga that had screaming faces on it. His hair hung down in greasy layers and his skin was milk white. He looked and felt lethal and powerful- like a jaguar waiting to dive for the kill. His eyes sparked with either insanity or genius. Possibly both. I realized where I'd seen those eyes before- Nico. This was his father.

Enter Hades, Lord of the Underworld.


	6. Chapter 6

I instinctively bowed respectfully. "Lord Hades."

He inclined his head and then turned to Hestia. "Sister." His voice was curt and clipped, as if it pained him to be up here.

"Brother." Unlike Hades, my mother's voice was warm and full of love. She gazed at him with compassion and I knew that not even Hades would be able to hate, argue with, or even be angry with my mother. She was just too understanding, too yielding. She loved all of her siblings, even Zeus, though he was angry with her right now.

"So this is your little Izera?" Hades voice was lazy as he eyed me. "Zeus can't be happy with you."

"Far from." Hestia sighed. "But I don't regret my actions. I've always been jealous of the other Olympians for being able to have a child, yourself included. Zeus is more angry with me for breaking my Oath than he is with any other god, Poseidon and yourself included."

"Technically, I didn't break my Oath. Nico was born before I made that promise." Hades contradicted her.

"Nevertheless, you did disobey his orders, didn't you?" Hestia pressed. "You were ordered to hand him over or destroy him and you did neither."

"And I'm right here." Nico intervened, sighing in irritation. Hades gave his son a dangerous look and I grabbed his arm before he could do anything stupid.

"You said you'd like to see me make him a home?" I asked. "I will. He'll learn how to smile before I'm done with him. Come on Chiron, I have a feeling that they'll want to speak alone for a moment." I all but dragged Nico out of the room and Chiron followed us out, wheeling his wheelchair behind us.

"You're a daring child." Chiron observed. "Not many would have the guts to talk to Lord Hades, let alone make that promise."

"It wasn't a promise, but I do intend to uphold what I said." I replied sincerely.

"And why wouldn't many children have the guts to speak to me Chiron?" interrupted a cool and collected voice. Chiron opened his mouth, surely to apologize, but Nico beat him to it and replied "Probably because you're scary as hell."

Hades just looked at him and then turned to me. "You have two weeks. Have fun. If Persephone can't make the brat smile, then no one can."

"Aww, you just haven't met me." I replied with a smile just as Nico said "Persephone doesn't want me to smile, she hates my guts."

Once again, Hades ignored his child and disappeared via air travel, with us adverting our eyes. Hestia was in the doorway. She smiled at me and said "Let me show you the Hearth, okay?"

I followed her away from the Big House and from Nico, who was receiving some pretty embarrassing instructions on (and I quote) "How to Live with a Female" from Chiron. I felt bad for the kid, but I had to admit, this was an exciting challenge, if not an easy one. I'd already made him smile and I just had that natural ability on how to make anywhere a home. This was going to be easy-peasy. I sat down next to Hestia in the commons area, where there was a large fire pit, which I was assuming was the Hearth. She picked up the fire poker and with a wave of her hand, the fire pit went cold, the coals dying out almost immediately. The campers all felt the sudden coldness and lack of a home feeling, just as I did, stopping in all of their activities and staring at the Hearth in horror. Hestia handed me the poker with a smile.

"If you can reignite the flames, I'll be happy to let you tend the Hearth with me, and doing so will exempt you from any kind of strenuous activity, because I don't like physical activity, and therefore, neither will you. If you can't reignite the flames, you'll train just like any other demigod. Deal?" she offered.

I looked at her with a  _challenge accepted BAMF_  sort of attitude. "Deal." I took the fire poker from her and dug through the cold ashes until I found what I was looking for: a coal. It was out and not warm anymore, but a little coaxing on my part could change that. I spoke to the coal quietly at first, speaking of a warm and happy home, but my voice gained power and I felt it growing hot in my hands. I looked at the tiny glowing coal and put it down in the ashes. I nestled it among the others, whispering to them all now.

"Come on, just a little bit more...there you go." I said and my voice was gentle and motherly, like how I imagined a mother telling their child that yes, they could and there was no such thing as a no I couldn't.

I was almost there and I felt my power brewing under my breastbone. I poked gently at the coals and I could feel the atmosphere returning to normal. The campers still knew something was wrong, but the Hearth was being lit again and it was enough to appease them and send them back to normal.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up. Hestia's face was full of pride. She waved her hand at the coals again and the atmosphere was suddenly warm and cozy again, the Hearth fully re-lit and going again.

"Well done," she approved proudly. "I didn't expect you to get that far."

"I've always had a natural ability to be able to light a Hearth to make a home." I sighed, looking at the tiny glowing coals again, the beginnings of a warm and cozy fire. "My natural gift, I guess."

"And I have no doubt that you'll succeed in giving Nico a home. The poor baby needs it too. It's been so long since he's felt loved, especially with his cousin Percy going off to college and him coming back to camp so early. Everyone who loves him or at least treats him right isn't here." Hestia sighed. "This will be a good experience for the both of you. You must learn to yield and give and he must learn to love and want."

"Yield and give? Love and want?" I asked, confused.

"You're such a wound up child sometimes, from what I hear. You must realize that with us at the Hearth, we will never see battle unless it comes directly for us. We will hates argument and confrontation of all sorts. We are yielding creatures, hence why I am not on the council of the Divine Twelve anymore and Dionysus is. Nico will need much and you must learn to yield to his every desire as a mother would. Give him everything and anything that he needs. And Nico needs to learn to let people into his heart and to care about a person. He doesn't want to become his father and resists it, but in actuality, he becomes more like him with every passing day. He's too proud to admit he wants something's such as compassion and companionship or just company in general." Hestia sighed. "Sometimes I wish I was more than a minor goddess, just so that I could exert more of an influence over lives such as his. Neglect and abuse in homes only started when I left my throne three thousand years ago. Before that, every home was happy and there was no argument. There was no infidelity. A family was whole and complete."

I sat in silence, listening to my mother. She did make a good point. Though they were far and few in between, I did have a temper and I tended to be quite explosive. I rarely argued, though I did occasionally find an argument that meant something to me and I bit down, refusing to let go. And from what I could see, the only person Nico remotely cared about was maybe my mother, though from my mother's tone, this boy Percy might mean a lot to him too.

I nodded. "I'll work on it, I promise." She smiled.

"Good girl. Respecting your mother; Hera probably likes you already, minus the fact that you're the product of a broken Oath. No matter." she replied. "Now, let's get to teaching you about the protocol of the Hearth..."

I didn't know a Hearth had so many details, but my mother outlined them to me in explicit detail. When I went to dinner with Nico that night, it was only after I'd overseen all of the demigods sacrifices to the gods and then my own. I was really dizzy and tired from the days events and I could feel my legs going to sleep from sitting on the ground for so long. I tiredly ate my meal, sat almost unconscious at the campfire next to my mom, and then Nico showed me Cabin 13.

"Oh yeah, I can see the problem here." I said immediately.

"...Problem?" Nico asked.

"I was told to make a home here Nico." I told him impatiently. "I can clearly see why you don't consider this your home."

"And why's that?" he demanded.

"When you have a home, you outfit it how  _you_  want. You put posters on the wall, pictures that make you feel good, bedding that's comfy and you like, all of that stuff. You make a personal sanctuary that you can come back to and relax and cool off at. Judging from all of the holes in the walls, this isn't a place you treasure enough to want to keep it intact." I replied matter of fact.

"Is that so?" he asked, sounding like he was patronizing me.

"Yes, that is so." I replied. "Here you have bare walls, minus the holes, absolutely no furniture, things you don't like, and it's just overall got an unhappy atmosphere."

"And how do you know that I don't like it?" he asked.

"Because I highly doubt that you like the color beige." I gestured to the painted walls. "Whoever built this place was trying to give it a light inside and that just isn't going to work here. Starting tomorrow, we're repainting and redecorating and I don't care if it takes all two weeks. I know that if you like the way it looks, it makes all the difference. Trust me, I've lived in 11 different houses in 3 different states. I know what I'm talking about."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"You did say that the Hermes cabin would do anything if you paid them." I pointed out.

"So will the Nemesis cabin, but that doesn't mean anything. The nearest paint store is in New York." he replied.

"Don't worry about it so much; I've got this. You just think about what you want the inside of this cabin to look like." I told him.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Here." -He threw a shirt and a pair of athletic shorts at me- "Since you don't have any pajamas and I highly doubt that you wanna sleep in jeans. I can get you another outfit tomorrow from the Aphrodite cabin. Good night." He proceeded to take off his shirt and jeans, climbing into bed. When I saw his bare back, I felt my breath whoosh out of my chest and I quickly averted my eyes before he realized that I was staring at him practically naked. He rolled over in his bed, burying himself under a mountain of blankets and pillows.

Sighing, I changed as well and slipped under the covers on another bunk, only this one had less blankets and only one pillow. Seems Nico mugged the other bunks for his bedding. I shrugged and decided to make the best of it, resting my head on the pillow and closing my eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up to Nico shaking me. I blinked and peered blearily at him. I twisted around and stared at the clock on the dresser across the room. It was... 6:10 in the freaking morning. I didn't even get up that early for school! What the hell was he doing waking me up at 6:10 in the morning?

"Are you on crack?" I managed to demand, struggling to sit upright. "I don't even get up this early for school! Why on earth am I up at 6:10 in the freaking morning?"

"Breakfast is always at seven o' clock sharp." he replied. "You're gonna wanna shower before you make an appearance at the mess hall. You get serious bed head and you toss and turn a lot."

"Seriously, how on earth do you know that?" I demanded.

"I barely sleep at all." he replied. "I usually only go like, heavy-duty comatose sleep after I get too exhausted from using my powers. You weren't very loud last night, but you were loud enough to wake me up a few times. BTW, you talk in your sleep."

"Good to know. Still does not explain why the hell I am up at SIX FREAKING TEN IN THE MORNING!" I shrieked. "I could have slept until 6:30 and still have had time to spare!"

He just looked at me, unimpressed. "Dibs on the shower. Another BTW, get used to dibbing things around here or you're going to be SOL on a lot of things, like shower time."

"Whatever." I grunted, rolling upright. "Did you by any chance remember that I don't have spare clothes?"

He pointed to the table next to my bunk, where a pile of very fashionable clothes lay. "Toldja I'd ask the Aphrodite cabin. They guesstimated your size, so if something doesn't fit right, you'll have to talk to them."

I nodded, picking them up and pawing through them as he disappeared into the bathroom, presumably for his shower. I was a bit shocked at the clothes. They were allowed to wear these? I'd been in trouble for wearing  _more_  clothes than this!

The first outfit offered to me was a mini skirt and a tube top with a cute over jacket to go with it. Both covered about as much skin as a bikini. The second outfit was a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top, which thankfully was a full outfit, but still way not my taste. I knew that the skinny jeans were  _soooooo_  not going to be A) my size, B) my style, or C) worn in any moment of my life. The third and final outfit was a pair of super short shorts that could have passed for an undergarment with a white halter tunic top that was long enough to reach the bottom of the shorts. And the worst part was, there was no way that I could mix and match up the outfits because then I'd just look ridiculous. Sighing, I chose the shorts and the tunic top, throwing the rest back into a pile on the dresser. Nico emerged for about 3.4 seconds to dig through his own drawers to pull out a pair of boxers, black jeans, and a red zombie t shirt before disappearing back into the bathroom. I blinked and waited patiently. After he was dressed and somewhat dry (I say somewhat because he still looked like he walked out of a lake without a towel), he gestured that the bathroom was mine and I thankfully left his sight.

The hot water felt good. I quickly washed up, though I regretfully couldn't shave or anything because I didn't have any of my toiletries with me that I could use. I was even more thankful that I'd taken a shower yesterday before school and shaved, so my legs were still pretty smooth, but that was bound to change, given how fast my hair grew. I seriously hoped that A) I could get my hands on female bathroom products or B) the Aphrodite cabin gave me more full length pants to wear than skirts and shorts.

When I deemed myself cleaned to the best of my ability given the small range of time and beauty products I had at my disposal, I climbed out and dried off, and got dressed. I towel dried my hair and combed it out with my fingers, braiding it loosely. I went back outside and Nico was leaning up against the door, waiting impatiently for me.

"About time." he muttered. I shot him a sunny smile in return and he paused, unsure how to respond. No doubt that when he started muttering and growling at people, he was met with glares and hostile comebacks.

"Sorry, but I'm a girl. You know how these things are." I replied. "Come on, I have to go sit at the Hearth with my mother and then talk to Chiron about redecorating your cabin and I do want to eat somewhere in there."

"Not to mention training. Now that you're in my cabin, you follow my cabin schedule." Nico replied. "You've got a busy day ahead of you."

"Nah, not really." I told him. "I sit at the Hearth with my mom. I don't have to train."

"That's unfair!" he protested. "The rest of us do!"

"The rest of you aren't children of the goddess of hearth and home." I reminded him. "I'm crap with weapons. I'd only be a danger to myself and whoever I was fighting next to."

"But"- he began to protest again.

"So have you thought about what your ideal home would look like?" I asked, interrupting him lightly. "I have work to do Nico, hop to it."

He glowered at me. "Actually, yes, I did. Wanna hear about it?"

"In as much detail as possible please." I instructed. He began and he put so much detail into it that it made my head spin, but in a good way. He was making my job easier by putting so much effort into trying to paint a mental picture for me. He was still talking about it when we got to the Hearth and he actually sat down next to me and continued talking, much to the surprise of the campers and myself. I nodded, poking at the flames and occasionally murmuring the blessing my mother used to bless the sacrifices, listening all the while to his rambling.

"Clear enough picture for you?" he asked sarcastically. I nodded, not fazed.

"Very well done. I bet that if I have a decent enough work crew, I could have it done tomorrow." I replied.

"Cool." he nodded. "Oh, and cabin inspections are every morning after breakfast. The cabin with the lowest score is on Kitchen Duty with the harpies and though it's usually the Hermes kids cuz' they're sloppy, they've been way cleaner than me lately. We may or may not end up on KP duty."

"Nice of you to just slip that little fact in right there." I said. "But don't worry, with me in there, we won't end up on KP duty. I'm a neat freak of the worst kind. I get it from my dad. What can I say? It's in my genes."

"Nice." he laughed. "Hungry? I'm getting up, I can get you something to eat real quick."

"Please do." I said. "I'm going to be busy for a while. I'm going to need lotsa fuel." He nodded and jogged away, getting the naiads and the dryads to give him two plates of food. He came back to me and gave me one plate, scraping some food off the other, muttering "For Hades," darkly. I whispered an ancient Greek blessing over what little food fell in there. He arched an eyebrow, but still turned away, returning to his table and eating alone. I scraped in my food as well and said "For the gods," before digging in myself.

Hestia sat down next to me. "So, how was your night? Any nightmares?"

"Not this time." I said. "No waking up in cold sweats or screaming my head off, though Nico said I talk in my sleep."

She cocked her head at me. "Screaming and cold sweats?"

"Yeah, those are the worst." I replied. "They usually end with me or someone else almost or actually being eaten. Don't you have dreams?"

"No. Divine beings such as gods and goddesses do not have the ability to create our own dreams. We usually never sleep. If we do, it's simply a hibernating period that occurs for hundreds of years. Hera slept through most of the Byzantine Empire once. Lost 800 years." Hestia replied hesitantly. "What is it like to dream?"

I thought about it. "For some people, a really enjoyable experience. They have good dreams, like them growing up and being able to complete their life's goals. An aspiring architect might dream of seeing their masterpiece on the New York sky line or something. An aspiring model would see their picture on the cover of  _Cosmopolitan_  or something. Some people dream of finding their soul mate, fashioning a person to fit their perfect idea of their other half and then create a world around what their lives could be. Little boys dream of being superheroes, little girls dream of being princesses. Stuff like that. And then you have the 'cold sweat; screaming nightmares' that us demigods usually get, according to Nico and Chiron. They're sometimes omens, sometimes visions of the past, or stuff like that. Nico and Chiron says they differ. Like, for instance, a few nights ago, I saw you and Zeus arguing and Nico was standing next to me, telling me not to bother intervening and that the argument would end when you guys finished arguing and not a moment before and that there was nothing I could do."

Hestia looked thoughtful. "I think I'd like to dream...maybe...I think that I would enjoy being able to create my own world around what I enjoy rather than having to help other people fashion theirs. Do not misunderstand me, I do enjoy what I do and I do it gladly, as I have for thousands upon thousands of years and will continue doing for many more. But I think it might be a good experience for us gods to have a dream."

I shrugged. "Maybe. I know a lot of people who don't dream. It's not that they can't, more like the dreams just don't form enough to become solid and take place."

Hestia was sitting there silently, poking at the flames. I saw Chiron out of the corner of my eye and put down my poker, hastily excusing myself. I ran up to him. "Chiron!"

He looked at me. "Izera, child, how may I help you?"

"Yeah," I panted, "I need to ask you something. Is it okay if I redo Nico's cabin? He's already practically given me the go ahead, but I just wanted to make sure with you first."

"Are you sure you'll have time to do that with all of Cabin Thirteen's activities?" he asked, mildly surprised.

"My mom has given me permission to be excluded from training because she wants me to sit at the Hearth with her and be taught how to use my powers. One of them is making a home and you know about the little bet slash challenge thing I have going with Lord Hades." I replied. "Nico's already told me what he wants done to the place, all I need is the go ahead."

"And how do you intend to attain the supplies and work force for this?" he asked.

"I'm giving her a crew of the dead. They're good workers because they don't have to sleep." Nico replied, coming up next to me. "And I'm fine with her changing my cabin- I never liked it anyway. The supplies should be easy enough; just leave that to us."

Chiron looked at both of us, unimpressed and briefly nodded. "Very well. Nico, don't forget that you have training to attend to and Izera, although your mother may have given you a pass so you can learn more about yourself, you still need to learn how to fight."

"I'll train her myself." Nico said quickly. "At night after the cabin's done."

Chiron sighed and nodded, waving us away. I felt a small blossom of happiness burst into life in my chest and I shot Nico a smile. "Well, Corpse Breath, I'm going to need that work crew soon."

He shot me a smile back, making my heart skip-beat dangerously. "On it. Just get to Cabin Eleven before they all spread out. Here's a bit of drachmas and mortal money just in case you need to bribe them." He passed me a tiny change purse that jingled loudly and a huge wad of cash.

I nodded. "Hurrying." I ran down to Cabin Eleven and caught them just barely before they all left the cabin. "Whoa, whoa, hold up there, slow your roll son! I need to talk to you guys!"

"Yeah?" asked one of the two head counselors. I think this one's name was Connor. "Whatcha need?"

"You guys can sneak practically anything into camp, right?" I asked. They nodded.

"Pretty much. We had an ice cream truck here for a week before Chiron found it. Why?" Connor replied.

"Because I need a favor and it involves a lot of sneaking." I replied. "I was wondering if you're up to it."

"Favors around here cost you." his brother, Travis said. "Nothing personal, we just have other favors that require cash. If you can't pay, we've got pegasi to ride."

"I can pay, I can!" I exclaimed, holding up the cash. They stared at it, awed.

"What do you need?" Connor asked, reaching for the money.

I pulled it back. "Hold your horses honey. I first need maybe...five gallons of the blackest paint you can find and as cheap as you can go. I'm redecorating a cabin. Next I need lots of band posters, specifically System Of A Down, Hollywood Undead, and such, alright? Then after that, black downy bedding. Can you get all that?"

Connor and Travis stared at me. "We'd have to go all the way into New York City for that."

I sighed. "I know. But this has got to be maybe"- I counted it- "Round about $1,500 that I have in my hand right here, all of it going to you for what I need. Nico and I will cover for whoever gets this for me and your cabin will be tipped, I promise. And this is going to be a two week long process, so there's going to be more cash coming in. You just have to get what I say when I say it."

Travis and Connor went back to their siblings and there was a quiet discussion that didn't last long. They came back nodding. "Alright. Casey and Alexis have volunteered to go into town for it. But how much are you going to tip us for all of this?" He motioned to one of his brothers and one of his sisters, who had their arms crossed and eyebrows arched expectantly.

"Fifteen dollars per camper that helps me. Casey and Alexis will be getting $15 each for helping me. And, if done in a quickly and satisfactory time, a little extra." I replied. "And at the end of the redecorating, if I have cash left over, I'll give it all to your cabin to split up, alright?"

Connor nodded. "Sounds good to me. Hand them the cash. You'll have your stuff in an hour, more or less." I nodded and threw them the cash. Alexis caught it, quickly stuffing it down her shirt. She and Casey shot me quirky smiles before disappearing into a crowd, no doubt going to hot wire the camp car or steal a pegasus. I thanked them and went back to the cabin. Nico and his undead work crew just watched me.

"Well?" Nico asked.

I smiled impishly at him. "Never you mind about that. You just get in there and clean the cabin up before I mess it up."


	8. Chapter 8

And mess it up, I did. I'd never really gotten very messy in my life- as I'd said, I was a neat freak of the worst kind. One mess could send me right over the edge. But Nico grudgingly tidied up and once Casey and Alexis were back, I got down to some serious business. I sealed up all the holes in the walls and began to paint over the gods-awful beige color that had been originally put in here. The paint was pretty cheap, but with a bit of undead help and too many coats to count, it was covered up and disappeared. The inside of the cabin just looked all that much more menacing with the inside being black. Even with the lights on, it looked dark. There was only one window that was put in a shadow, so no natural light came in or got out. Once the paint was dry, I took a break for lunch. We'd been excused from cabin inspections due to my construction area and I was refusing Nico admittance until nightfall; gods forbid he screw up my system. I would skewer him with his own sword.

Posters were put up, clothes organized, beds remade, walls were washed. It was tiring and time consuming and even though I practically had my own small army, I only let them handle menial tasks, so much was my paranoia. All of the hard work was mostly done by me, with the exception of heavy lifting. I watched as bit by bit the beaten cabin inside became something akin to the perfect home that Nico had painted for me. I moved the beds around and the dressers were all but obsolete with my new set up.

I sighed as I relaxed against a cool wall. The undead army was digging a small trench in the back of the cabin, my own gift to Nico: his own undead summoning trench. I purposefully made the inside as dark as I could, knowing that shadows strengthened Nico and having a place to come back to that would recharge him quickly would mean the world to him. The process was going much quicker than anticipated; instead of two  _weeks_ , it might only take two  _days_.

_CRACK!_

The sound startled me. A beam in the ceiling, from the skeletal rafters I'd exposed and planned on tackling next, swung down and fell. It landed only a mere foot away from me, on my bed, smashing it to bits. I jumped and leaped back, a small and startled yelp leaping from my throat. Holy Hestia, that was scary. If I'd moved or one thing hadn't been there, it might have been me who'd been smashed to bits. A scary prospect: Nico returning to find my mangled body pinned under a rafter. Unbidden, tears came to my eyes and I was forced to sit down and calm myself.  _Please, subconscious, from the bottom of my heart, I beg you for no horrifying nightmares about the possibilities_.

Now that I wasn't hyperventilating, I surveyed the situation with dismay. Yes, Nico's cabin was made to house nearly 30 kids. But it'd only had the two bunks: one for me, one for him. Now one was broken and if his personality told me anything, I knew I should scavenge for some bedding because he certainly wouldn't give me his. It was nightfall and there was no way in the name of the immortals I'd be able to convince or get away with the Hermes kids sneaking in a bed or stealing one from another cabin. Disgusted, I decided to take a break and go to dinner to take my mind off of things. Hestia saw how stress I was and how deep I was thinking and excused me from sitting at the Hearth. Tiredly, I made my sacrifice and then collapsed at Nico's table. He joined me soon after.

"Hey, so I heard you broke something." He said, jumping straight to the one subject I didn't want to talk about.

"Just a bed and a rafter." I yawned. "Nothing of consequence."

"You broke a bed…" he trailed off. "I never thought in a million years that I'd hear you say that."

"Not like that you retard!" I elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "A rafter fell and smashed it. Your small contingent of zombies are cleaning it up and I'll be able to mostly finish the cabin, probably tonight."

"Mhm, one problem: just where is one of us going to sleep tonight?"

I looked at him seriously. "Well, that is a quandary, isn't it? Maybe the AP kid should get on that while I finish his cabin."

He chuckled. "Testy…hmm….too bad your mom's Hestia. I'd be afraid of offending her."

"What?" I asked, having not paid attention. "Why would you offend her?"

He just cocked his head to the side and said "Finish my cabin. Soon. I'm tired and want to lie down sometime before midnight."

I glared at him. "It'll probably be done in 20 minutes, providing I improvise heavily and can bribe Cabin Eleven again tomorrow. So, ideas on how to fix the sleeping situation?"

He smiled wolfishly. "A few."


End file.
